The London Blasts: Media Review

DAY 79: 24 September 2005

TERRORIST SOCKS UPDATE

SOCKS INNOCENT, MAN GUILTY

Yusuf Abdullah, who the newspapers insist on calling by his pre-Muslim name of Andrew Rowe, has been found guilty of 'of having two items - hand-written instructions on firing a mortar, and a "substitution code" enabling him to use the names of mobile phones and English counties to communicate about weapons and targets - for "terrorist purposes".' (Telegraph, page 12)

His socks, on the other hand, have been found innocent.

He has been sentenced to seven and a half years for each offence, and the sentences are to run consecutively, rather than concurrently, as is normal in sentencing. In other words, rather than having seven and a half years of prison ahead of him (with potentially half off for good behaviour), Yusuf Abdullah has fifteen years ahead of him (with potentially half off for good behaviour).

The judge said:

'The contents of the substitution code are chilling in the extreme. It refers to airports, airline crews, explosives, firearms, army bases and three targets. In the post 9/11 world it requires no imagination to understand what would have been within your contemplation and what would have been your purpose.'

'I have no doubt that whatever terrorist purposes you and unknown others were contemplating, its fulfilment was relatively imminent.'

The Telegraph notes reluctantly:

'No evidence emerged to link Rowe to a specific terror plot, despite suspicions among security forces about his intentions and the possibility that an airport, such as Heathrow, would have been a target.'

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken Macdonald, said:

'Although there was no direct link between Andrew Rowe and a particular terrorist act, possession of those items together with other supporting evidence was sufficient for a jury to conclude that he had them for the purpose of terrorism.'

'The point is, do you catch these people before that [terrorism] happens? The name of the game in terrorism is to stop them getting to that stage and that is what this case is about.'

The name of the game in law is to catch people when you have evidence that they are going to commit an offence. Or is the new law that everyone who is potentially a terrorist is going to be arrested. And does this new law apply only to Muslims?

DENIAL - DAVIS STYLE

THE HONEST DENIER

David Davis, the front-runner in the contest for the Conservative Party leadership, has re-affirmed his strong support for the war in Iraq, and warned Ken Clarke:

'Those who complain that our closeness to America, in particular our support of the US in Iraq, has made us a target of terror, should think before they speak. Such remarks are a signal to extremists that we will adjust our foreign policy in response to their threats, which merely invited further attacks.'

(This article is headed 'Davis exposes split in Tory Iraq policy' in our edition of the Independent, but is 'UN diplomacy is a waste of time, says Davis' online. Curious.)

Mr Davis is not denying that the risk of terrorism is heightened by Britain's slavish support for the 'war on terrorism' or by the invasion of Iraq. He is saying that such truths, if truths they be, should not be said publicly.

We should follow self-destructive policies, but should not publicly acknowledge that they erode national security, or debate other ways of securing the safety of the citizenry.

JNV welcomes feedback.